Goodbye?
by upwardsfreefall
Summary: What if Harry had stopped to say goodbye to Ginny when he saw while going into the forest? What would he say? Read and Review!


Hi everyone! This is my first Harry Potter Fanfiction! It's about what would have happened if Harry would have stopped and talked to Ginny on his way to surrender to Voldemort. Enjoy!

-Softballer11

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Ginny was leaning beside the injured girl, holding her hand. Harry stopped his slow procession to the forest to stare at the girl who he had been yearning to see all year. Her blazing red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail as she spoke comforting words to the young girl. He was under the invisibility cloak, so she couldn't see him.

"It's okay, it's okay. I know it hurts. I'll get you some help." She spoke gently to the girl attempting to stop the girl from sobbing. Ginny's eyes were rimmed red from crying and it appeared that even now she was blinking furiously to keep the tears from coming.

The girl suddenly wailed, "I want to go home! I want my Mum!" Ginny look startled, but immediately seeked help. She glanced around searching for help, her eyes stopping right where Harry was standing with his cloak of invisibility on. '_How could she possibly see me?' _thought Harry as he took a sharp intake of breath. Ginny had apparently seen someone standing behind Harry, for then she yelled, "Professor! I've found another one!"

Harry turned around to discover Professor McGonagall closer than he had thought she was. He quickly got out of the way as she barreled past him, while she conjured a stretcher in mid-air. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she whispered, and the little girl hovered up onto the make-shift bed. "Thank you, Ginevra. I'll take her from here."

McGonagall hurried away leaving Ginny still kneeling on the ground. She made no attempt to move away from the spot where she had discovered the girl. Harry realized that she had began shaking with silent sobs. It broke his heart to see her like this. At that moment, Harry knew he couldn't leave without saying good bye to her. He silently knelt down beside her and whispered, "Ginny?"

Ginny was so startled she jumped about an inch in the air, but immediately recognized his voice. "Harry? Harry, where are you?" The hope in her voice was painful for Harry to hear. Harry quickly threw the cloak over her head so that she could see him, and no one else would know of their meeting. He brushed her hand in the process and a warm feeling flowed throughout his body from where his hand had made contact with hers.

"Harry..." Just the sound of her saying his name made him feel so much worse about what he had to do.

"Ginny?" began Harry interupting her while studying his feet. "I have something tell you." He took a deep breath and turned his attention towards her eyes. Those milky-brown eyes looking into his green ones gave him the strength to continue.

"When I was little, I would sometimes stare at the small clock in my closet under the stairs and wish that I could make time go faster. Despite the constant wishes I made, time seemed to drag on, as if it were mocking me. I _hated _time," he paused to take a deep breath. "until I met you."

"It wasn't until I _really _met you that I began to love time. It wasn't until I began thinking of you as more of a friend than as Ron's little sister that I realized how valuable time really was. I started begging time to go slower, allowing me to spend more time with you. I loved spending time just looking at your beautiful brown eyes, or just holding you close. I was never bored when I was around you. You made my life feel almost normal when in reality is was the farthest thing from. The time I was able to spend with you was the happiest of my life."

"Harry..." Ginny began but Harry quickly put a finger to her lips. She quickly grabbed his hand in both of hers and squeezed it, letting him know she was listening.

"Ginny, we didn't have enough time. We still don't have enough time. I just wanted to let you know that _you _are the thing that keeps me going. I know that I've put you through hell, I want you know that I never meant to do that to you. When I was gone with Ron and Hermione, I felt like a part of me was missing. I used to take the Marauder's Map out at night and stare at the dot labeled "Ginny" hoping that you could feel that I was thinking about you."

"I guess what I wanted to tell you is that I'm sorry about everything I've put you through because of me. It's okay if you hate me for it, I hate myself too."

There was a silence between them. Harry couldn't bring himself to look up at Ginny, knowing that she probably did hate him for what he had done. He shifted uncomfortably and moved to sitting cross-legged on the ground. Suddenly, there was a soft pressure on Harry's chin caused by Ginny's fingers forcing him to look at her.

Ginny had tears streaming down her face. It seemed like his apology hadn't worked. Harry made a move to leave but Ginny launched herself on to him, settling into his lap while enveloping him in a hug. Her head settled on his neck and she couldn't help but notice how skinny Harry had become after his months of camping.

"Harry, I could _never _hate you."she whispered into his ear. "I know that you had a good reason for doing everything you did, even though I might not have agreed with it." Harry nearly jumped with joy when he heard that he had been forgiven. Then he remembered that he had less than an hour to live, and immediately returned to his somber mood.

"Ginny? Incase I don't make it tonight, I just want to let you know that I love you and could you please tell everyone that I'm sorry for everything I've done to everyone I've ever loved. Mum, Dad, Sirius, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Remus, Tonks, Colin, and now Fred-"

"Harry!" she pounded his chest hard with her fist. "Stop blaming yourself! Those people didn't die for you. They died because of Voldemort, they died fighting him. They all knew what might happen. Even Fred knew-" Her voice cracked and she couldn't finish the sentence because she had started sobbing again.

Harry knew she was just trying to make him feel better. He knew that all of those people died thinking that he was 'The Chosen One', when he was really just another Horcrux in Voldemort's master plan. He was just another sacrifice that had to be made in an attempt to defeat Voldemort, and yet people had still wasted their lives trying to protect him.

"Wait a second... Harry? You're not saying goodbye, are you?" Ginny looked up at him with that hard, blazing look in her eyes that Harry had grown to love.

"No." he falsely assured her. He became painfully aware that he only had 15 minutes to hand himself over to Voldemort.

"I've got another thing that I've got to go on Dumbledore's orders." Harry said while standing up. "I have to do it alone." he added after Ginny made an attempt to follow him. She glanced down at her feet and then gave him a sad smile.

"How come it seems like you're always leaving me, Harry? I know you have your reasons, but it just seems like it happens a lot." Ginny had given him a smile, but Harry saw right through it. He understood how much he had hurt her over the past year. _Atleast I won't be hurting her for much longer._

Harry closed the distance between them and held her again. "I wish that we could stay like this forever, Ginny. I really do. But my life has already been chosen for me. My fate is sealed whereas your's has endless possibilities. I wish it was different, but it's the truth." he whispered in her ear. Before he knew what he was doing, Ginny had her mouth over his and she was kissing him like she had never kissed him before. They were interrupted too soon by the calling of familiar voices.

"Ginny?"

"Ginny, where are you?"

It was Ron and Hermione shouting from the castle that got Ginny and Harry's attention. Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'm over here!" she responded and then said in a low voice to Harry, "Is it just me or is Ron always interrupting us." Harry forced a grin while blushing slightly.

"Tell Ron and Hermione that I appreciate everything they've done for me and that they're the best friends I've ever had." he whispered as he took the cloak off Ginny, leaving him alone while being invisible. He took a few steps toward the forest. The sound of Ron and Hermione running toward Ginny was getting louder and Harry knew he had to disappear before they showed up. They would know that there was no more orders from Dumbledore to follow.

_Those can't be the last words I say to her! _Quickly, Harry hurried back to Ginny. "Goodbye, Ginny." he whispered softly and then rushed away, but not before hearing her gasp and say, "You said this wasn't a goodbye! Harry, come back here!"

But Harry had already vanished, leaving Ginny and his whole world behind him.


End file.
